WSJ: Former HP CEO Mark Hurd In Talks To Join Oracle

(RTTNews) - Former Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ: News ), Mark Hurd, is in discussions to join Oracle Corp. (ORCL: News ) as a top executive, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

However, the report said that the exact nature of Hurd's new job could not be learned. The talks were not complete. It was possible Hurd's hiring could still fall through. Oracle's board still needs to approve any appointment, the Journal reported, quoting the people.

Larry Ellison has been the Oracle's only CEO, won't vacate the CEO seat, the paper said citing a people familiar with the matter.

In August, Mark Hurd had resigned from his positions as chairman and CEO of HP, following an investigation by outside legal counsel and the General Counsel's Office, overseen by the Board, on a claim of sexual harassment against Hurd and HP.

The sexual harassment allegations were bought on by former actress and ex-HP contractor Jodie Fisher, who later came forward and released her statement saying, "I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this. That was never my intention."

Though the investigation determined there was no violation of HP's sexual harassment policy, it did find violations of HP's Standards of Business Conduct. Hurd is said to have filed inaccurate expense reports for dinners he had with Fisher in order to conceal their relationship.

Following Hurd's resignation from HP last month, Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison had blasted HP's board for forcing HP CEO Mark Hurd to resign despite finding no evidence to back a former employee's sexual harassment claim.

"The HP board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago," Ellison wrote in an email to The New York Times.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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